Velo-city

Bicycles and More

• Overview
• City Bikes
• Folding Bikes
• Cargo Cycles
• Child Carriers
• Recumbents
• Special Needs
• Trikes
• Cabin Cycles
• Velomobiles
• Tandems
• Sociables
• Comfort
• Recumbent
• Quadricycles
• Pedelecs & E-Bikes

Sociables

Riding Side by Side


Partner Look: a couple getting used to the ride on the two-wheeled Buddy Bike (Photo: Tandem Club of Australia)

A so-called sociable (side-by-side bicycle or tricycle) solves the forward visibility issue encountered by the stoker on a conventional tandem bicycle, providing both riders with a clear view forward but introduces potential balance issues between the two.

Unlike tandem bicycle designs, two-wheeled upright sociables cannot be riden alone. Here is where the three-wheeled delta design (one wheel at front and two-wheels at rear) is quickly adopted to provide stability. Such designs either adopt a comfort or recumbent seating position, both of which are described below.

Comfort Sociables


Wide Track: the Dutch Van Raam three-wheeled power-assisted comfort sociable (Photo: Alp)

Leveraging the increasingly popular seating position of the comfort bicycle, comfort sociables use a delta configuration to provide for a relaxed ride with good load-carrying capacities.



Recumbent Sociable


Wide Track Laid Back: the UK-designed 2Can bent sociable has joystick steering (Photo: 2cancycle.co.uk)

Both the comfort- and recumbent sociable designs address the issues of visibility and stability but add the disadvantage of increased weight. Due to the increased weight, many sociable trikes are equipped with electric assist as standard or available as an option either at time or purchase or as an aftermarket accessory.

For comfort- and recumbent seating configurations on four wheels, see the quadricycles page.



Keywords

sociable, side-by-side, bicycle, bike, tricycle, trike, pedelec,